The Hokies' defense blanked Delaware on Saturday after struggling to limit West Virginia and its potent Air Raid offense. However, the Blue Hens posed a different challenge, heavier personnel packages with more bodies in the box and limited sophistication in the passing game. In years past, similar schemes (e.g. Pitt and Boston College prior to 2016) put pressure on Virginia Tech's defensive front to be sound with its gap responsibilities while the alley defenders needed to be sure tacklers. When the Hokies' alley defenders made tackles, the defense performed well. When those alley defenders couldn't put the running back on the ground in space, ball carriers were all too often spotted gallivanting to the end zone.
The Blue Hens didn't have the same level of talent as those past ACC opponents. However, the Hokies' alley players answered the challenge brilliantly throughout a 27-0 shutout. Delaware only sustained two extended drives (7 plays 64 yards, 12 plays 65 yards). On those possessions, the defense was bailed out by a missed field goal, and a Tim Settle deflected a pass to Terrell Edmunds for an interception. Otherwise, after giving 592 yards against West Virginia, the Hokies limited Delaware to 223 yards.
Tremaine Edmunds bounced back from a subpar effort against the Mountaineers in which he frequently did not play play with the proper leverage. For example, on this WVU 2nd-and-7 Edmunds took on an isolation block with the wrong shoulder. In doing so, Edmunds and Andrew Motuapuaka fitted the same gap and Justin Crawford rumbled through the unfitted gap for a 42-yard gain.
Against Delaware Edmunds delivered 14 tackles and 4 tackles for a loss. He made a number of highlight reel plays using his speed and athleticism.
However, his sound positioning and technique on simple plays were even more encouraging in my eyes.
On first-and-ten, the Blue Hens run a power off the left side. Mook Reynolds is disguised as the edge defender. At the snap, Reynolds blitzes off the edge. He takes a very flat angle. This exposes Mook as the edge defender with a "spill" (bounce the runner outside) responsibility.
Up front and to the field-side, DE Trevon Hill (7-technique) and DT Ricky Walker (3-technique) slanted hard to their left, DT Tim Settle (1-technique) slanted right to the A-gap, and DE Houshun Gaines (5-technique) dropped off to the flat. Motuapuaka and Edmunds scraped against the flow. Reynolds spilled the back and Motuapuaka was quick enough to get to the edge so the RB Kareem Williams couldn't bounce outside. Edmunds fitted squarely in the space between Motuapuaka and Reynolds.
Once in position, there is no hesitation from Tremaine. He delivers a perfect form tackle and puts Williams on the ground. This is beautiful scheme and the three Hokies linebackers executed it perfectly. And Reggie Floyd (more on him in a second) is in perfect position as the alley defender if Tremaine misses the tackle.
Floyd's positioning and tackling has belied that of an inexperienced sophomore and has been a positive surprise early in the season. It seemed like every time the Blue Hens ran to the boundary, Floyd was in perfect position to fill the alley and put the runner on the ground. The next play was a carbon copy of a handful of beautiful alley plays Floyd made over the course of the game.
Delaware runs a split zone read accentuated by the H-Back coming across from left to right to wham block DE Vinny Mihota off the edge. Hill has a force call, he has to stay outside and force RB Thomas Jefferson to cut into the lane. With Hill executing the force call, Floyd knows he has to fill the alley inside of Hill.
If Hill doesn't keep contain, Floyd will be out of position. Hill does his job perfectly. He gets slightly up field and keeps his right shoulder free. Motuapuaka and Edmunds fill the bubble in between Walker and Settle. Floyd rockets up to the line of scrimmage and rocks Jefferson right in the hole. Floyd absolutely sticks Jefferson, and Settle gets all the way across from his three-technique alignment on the back-side of the formation to get a piece of Jefferson too. Watch every defensive snap and you will see Floyd make this play at least a half dozen times. The 6-0, 218 pound former 3-star recruit has been solid so far in 2017.
The Lack of Depth and Sloppiness
Unfortunately, Bud Foster made little progress towards his goal of building depth up front. Gaines got more work at defensive end with the top group and generated some pressure. Emmanuel Belmar had a nice play where he kept contain and made a beautiful tackle (despite the back grabbing his facemask). However, when Delaware moved the ball, it generally happened when the second-team d-line was in the game.
As result, the starting defensive line group had moments where they started to wear down. Tired legs often produce poor execution. In a one-gap scheme like Foster's, an execution breakdown in a gap can produce a big play.
Delaware's best run of the game came on a simple outside zone play. How did such a big hole open up? As you can see, instead of slanting through the inside shoulder of the right guard, Settle swims through his outside shoulder. While he gets off the guard unscathed, the swim move opens a big cutback lane for the back inside of Jarrod Hewitt and Andrew Motuapuaka.
Settle's freelancing likely drew the ire of Charley Wiles in the film room on Monday. Still, Settle is a huge difference maker when he's not fatigued. The Hokies desperately need depth inside to limit Settle and Walker's snaps and keep the single-digit duo fresh. With Hewitt and Jimmie Taylor not producing, Foster moved Vinny Mihota inside on regular rushing downs. Mihota's presence made a difference as he repeatedly drew false starts on the Blue Hen's offensive line. However, with Gaines still feeling his way into the rotation, moving Mihota inside creates depth issues at defensive end. The Hokies desperately need better output from that second defensive line group against East Carolina. Otherwise, the Hokies' top DL group may potentially be worn down by the time Virginia Tech begins ACC play.
Comments
How has this gone for almost an hour without a single comment?
Glad to have some more insight to Tremaine's rebound aside from "holy hell, he's making plays all over the field!"
Our depth is a concern, but I still feel like we're on pace to contend for the Coastal. Any higher expectations out of this team are misguided at this point, but I hope for some pleasant surprises over the next few months.
"Rocks Jefferson right in the hole"
Floyd is far and away the biggest positive surprise on the defensive side of the ball. He tackles like a kid that wrestled since birth with siblings - very natural and doesn't screw around with the ball carrier - he takes them down fast - I may be off a bit, but reminds me of the way V. Hall could bring down a runner on the spot. In your clip above when he meets the back in the hole, he gets low and wraps up so perfectly there are no yards after contact (that was an issue with Motu that he has vastly improved upon).
And like I noted, I could have shown a bunch of clips that were carbon copies of that one. He will get challenged some in the passing game as the ACC schedule warms up and I will be interested to see how he performs in that aspect. But, he may be the best rover we have seen in run support from the traditional two-deep alignment (remember, Clark, Jarrett, and Edmunds were all better near the line of scrimmage instead of back deep) in some time.
Sitting in the stands, Floyd stood out. I commented on it multiple times. He just seemed to be in the right place a bunch of times - reminded me of Mook at points last year. Our secondary is going to be fine. But our DL. . . . I just don't see where the depth can possibly come from this year. And if both Settle and Walker are gone next year, we potentially have even more depth issues. I hope one or two players can step up their game.
Great job, thanks for all your hard work!
Regarding the Tim Settle clip at the end. Presumably if he swims to the inside shoulder, he then spills the runner to the free hitter? I guess theoretically the LB could've taken the OL-man (though we want to avoid that) that would then make Settle the free-hitter, but he's no Nigel or Woody that's quick enough to cover that ground to make the tackle.
Looks to me like Settle has responsibility for the gap that the RB took. Assuming the RB still goes in that hole Settle would be the one responsible for the tackle. It looks like if the RB took the cutback than Floyd would be responsible for the tackle.
Or, the blocker would have stayed with Settle, forcing a cut by the back into a free hitter. I would love to hear this from Bud, but when I watch VT's defense, the two inside backers (UNLESS THE BACKER HAS EDGE FORCE/SPILL RESPONSIBILITY, which is the biggest distinction between the backer and the mike) read for bubbles to form between the defensive linemen as they slant off the OL's movement and fit into those bubbles. Based on how the blocker stepped, Tim should have been slanting hard to his right. By going through the left gap, he opened up an extra space where there wasn't an LB to account for it.
yeah Settle should've fought through the block and gone for the RG-C gap to his right. Difficult because the RG is slanting that direction, but important because Moto can more easily see how the RB is responding and fill the large gap to the left between the RT and RG if needed. Moto is a much better open field tackler than any DT. If the RB sticks with the RG-C gap, even if he can't close it off, fighting that direction compresses the gap and gives the LBs an easier stop.
By releasing the OL with a swim move to the wrong gap, Settle put himself in a open field tackle situation against the RB, but at the added disadvantage of being off balance. That move also freed the OL to move to the next level and engage Moto, giving the RB a ton of room to navigate
Is our scheme too difficult for true freshmen to grasp? Tim was an uber talented guy that red shirted, although that was also due to his weight, but it seems like we rarely have true freshmen step up to the plate. And with the lack of depth this year I thought maybe we would be hearing a little bit more about Zion DeBose and J'Bril Glaze. I remember you saying you really liked one or both of them. I know they would need some time to adjust to Power 5 offensive linemen, but with Jimmie Taylor weighing in under 260 that's going to be a problem anyways. And yes I know we prefer quick undersized linemen like Woody was, but he was a freak and not common for a guy his size.
Most of these players were monsters in high school, and their task was to get to the ball and make a play generally. Our defense asks the players to do specific things that may go against what they were previously taught. Now job is to fit in a gap and stay in position. They can't always flow to the ball which may make them overthink what they have to do. Overthinking then leads to slower movements to get in position.
Tim was great most of the time, and he understands the scheme fine. I think it is difficult sometimes for dominant players to grasp because they are so unblockable in high school that they are the playmaker. In this defense, the playmaker can be anyone if they are unblocked, but the blocked defenders have to fit first and then go get the ball. I think that is when we have had top tier defensive line recruits, there still is a period of adjustment where they don't see the field much or at all as true freshmen. To be successful, you have to be good at reading keys, humble enough to do your job to make another guy look good, twitchy enough to slant and cover a ton of space to get into your fit and then have leverage to keep from being driven out, and a good enough athlete to put the runner on the ground if you are unblocked. It is a unique combination.
That is why there are players who have talent who are not always a good fit up front. A guy like Derrick Nnadi would have been terrific in this system. D'Shawn Hand, Wyatt Teller, and others would have been a square peg in a round hole at defensive end (where they wanted to play) but would have been great at other schools (Teller I think would have been a monster as a DE at Ohio State for example.) I think way too many folks look at a recruiting rating, which is based on one on one ability in a vacuum away from scheme. Once in the scheme, some guys are great fits. Some aren't.
There are some guys on the roster right now who are talented players but bad fits scheme-wise, and I kind of wonder if they would have been offered if it wasn't for reputations and building relationships. There are other guys who are major contributors that wouldn't be nearly as effective in other defensive systems.
Interesting you think Hand wouldn't have been a good fit for us. Where would he have been a good fit for us then? DT?
That's a bit of hyperbole. Hand would have done fantastic in our defense as a DE. Think Mihota size and strength with TrevonHill's agility/speed.
You and I will disagree. I would have bet nice chunk that Hand would have been a DT. Teller was the same way. I was THRILLED when he committed, but if you understand the defensive scheme, you knew he was going to be moved to OL or he would be a DT. I made #Teller4Tackle a thing the day he committed.
Hand's size wasn't the disqualifier. It was his edge speed. Mihota had a quicker first step when I saw both of them in the same year. Hand was a pure measurable guy- built like a bigger Jevon Kearse at 16 years old. But, even in high school he was relatively ineffective as a defensive end. His coaches put him at nose tackle and just had him tie up blockers. He was very underwhelming in person. (McMillian and EJ Levenberry were the best players on the field that night.)
I wasn't playing close attention to FSU vs Alabama, but Derrick Nnadi was making way more plays than Hand or Josh Sweat. And, if you were reading me during that recruiting year, I said that Hand hurt much worse because of his reputation. Sweat was a tough miss but also needed to be more physical at the point of attack. And, I was crushed when we missed Nnadi and thrilled when we got Trevon Hill.
For some reason I remember him being listed as a Weak-side Defensive End, but at 265lb intead of 230lb. WDE is usually the skillset that thrives at DE in our system. I went and looked him on 247 and yep the 'going to be a DT at VT' label was there - "Strong-side Defensive End"
Wyatt Teller as an Ohio State DE; that is an interesting scenario. Just out of curiosity, how does OSU's defensive scheme differ from Coach Foster's such that Wyatt Teller exceeds as a DE there and becomes a DT here?
This is what makes the LPD mentality work. It's also a reason a 260 lb DT can work in this scheme.
Bud has tried to free up DTs with the Mike getting his lunch handed to him at times the past few years to account for DEs who were really fast and ran themselves out of plays.
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Great writeup French. I am liking the future of our safeties with Floyd and Deablo playing well along with Hunter developing. Was great to see Tremaine bounce back, but hopefully we will see continued improvement against better competition.
Do you see any hope in D-line depth from the film? From the naked eye Hewitt and Taylor just don't look ready and Gaines and Belmar are serviceable but definitely not game-changers. I agree that as the season goes on they will get worn out and God forbid hurt (especially Settle or Walker), we could see some close wins turn into close losses.
I was very surprised not to see Deablo get more run in this game. He was really really really good against WVU. And, we still have the very talented Devon Hunter in the wings. You have to feel really good about the safety spot.
Definitely encouraged by the Edmunds' performances but not getting a warm fuzzy about the depth on the DL. We got less push late in the WV game and I'm hoping we improve over the season.
I don't have the warm and fuzzies about the defensive line depth. I know folks have talked about taking the shirt off some of the freshmen. But, I am not seeing anything in the occasional clips on social media where they are getting work in individual drills where I am immediately thinking "that kid needs to be on the field." I have thought that at other spots, like Pimpleton for example.
Is the PIMP going to RS?
Pimpleton burned his shirt. I'm very sure I saw him on the field in our last series of the 4th quarter against Delaware.
he played this week, so i assume no
It's interesting looking a the positioning of Motu and Edmunds. Memory says that traditionally in the base look the inside linebackers are pretty balanced with respect to the center, or that the mike is close to head up. In a number of instances this year I've seen Edmunds head up and Motu shaded field-side, and I don't remember that happening much before.
It's just frustrating to see the lack of depth on a bud foster defenses defensive line ... I don't expect the backups to be just as good as the starters but man the gap is huge . It's not like we had a bunch of underclass leave early on the line . We have just missed badly in the past couple of recruiting cycles
Would have been really nice to have Sobczak playing DT this year. He showed some flashes at times.
Nobody thought much of Sobczak leaving in the offseason but we are sorely missing him now. And we recruited the position like we should have in terms of numbers, we just got unlucky with some guys not working out. There were three guys in Tim Settles class recruited as DTs but Nijman moved to the o line and Harry Lewis was never heard from. Then from the 2016 class you have Hewitt who is playing but not impressing and Clay Dean. The numbers were right but like you said we just missed on a lot of them and got unlucky on others with them leaving.
Got a good haul of freshmen this last time, but they are too raw, apparently.
At DE maybe, but not at DT. At DT we got Porcher, a mid 3* (who was actually categorized as a DE) and Glaze, a low 3*. Both are on the lighter side for an ACC DT coming out of HS at 245 and 250 respectively. I would consider both of them long-term projects at DT.
This is why I am so hopeful for McNeill. He would be an awesome compliment to Goode at DT for us, and I'm wondering if Kane will stay on the D-line or move over to O-line.
Ehhhh. I'm not sure I agree that we adequately recruited the position. There was more than an inkling that Clay Dean wouldn't be a contributor and Nijman would move to OL, especially given how quickly he did moved there after enrolling. I'm sure we missed on some guys the coaches really wanted or expected to get but I don't think it was impossible to foresee this would become an issue.
I don't think it was impossible either and yea Nijman was always gonna be o line I shouldn't have included him. But as far as Dean goes we're not going to go after a guy for no reason. I'm sure they weren't expecting a lot from him but there have been plenty of guys that weren't impressive recruits and turned out to be stars on this defense. My only point was that there wasn't a class where we completely neglected the position. Adequately recruiting is a different story. It's a quality vs quantity thing where we had the quantity we just weren't getting solid talent.
Pretty accurate critique. I think we're feeling the ramifications of previous recruiting whiffs at this spot. Two serviceable players in 3 years is pretty brutal. DE is in a pretty similar position as well, but I think the current staff addressed that as best as they could this last recruiting cycle. It's a shame really, because I'd love to see what Foster could do if he had a full complement of players that could realistically play. Late in the season, that DL is going to be running on fumes.
I think we're going to be faced with a similar scenario on the OL coming up. In the end, having a two deep on paper doesn't mean anything.
I'm pretty sure Sobczak leaving left a lot of concern I know it was talked about on this board because there was already concern with lack of depth
Big question is why he left???
Hurting from those misses, for sure.
Anyone notice the blatant hold on Trevon Hill (:06 sec mark) in the Delaware 'split zone read' clip? The O-lineman grabs him by the arm and spins him down. Was that called a penalty during the game? I see no flag in the clip.
yeah I saw that too. I really liked the "grabbing the front of the jersey from behind" move; that was slick. No flag as far as I can tell or remember.
Thank you for the Great insight...I said last week that perhaps tremaine was just having a bit of an off game against WVU and hope I'm right. Somehow I'm feeling that we need all our guys all the way through for all games...Need that 2-deep at DL
Tremaine is #20 on Mel's new big board posted today on ESPN.